Why'd it bomb? The Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014)


Last summer, Spider-Man made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short). This summer, the web-slinger will be headlining his own movie. But before his “homecoming”, Spidey was the star of two of Sony’s franchises. First, Sam Raimi a trilogy starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. Then Marc Webb rebooted the series in 2012 with Andrew Garfield taking over the mantle. In both cases, the franchise’s started off well but then, through executive meddling, things didn’t go so well.
Then came The Amazing Spider Man 2, which had the lowest grossing domestic gross of any Spider Man film, grossing $202 million domestically. That being said, it was technically a hit at the box office, making $709 million worldwide. However, while that wasn’t much different from the first movie’s worldwide gross of $757 million, Sony was expecting the movie to make more money and, when it didn’t, they ended up firing Garfield (though the fact that he had a falling out with the head of Sony didn’t help matters either), they cancelled their plans for an Amazing Spider-Man franchise, and decided to reboot the whole thing all over again. But why wasn’t it the huge hit Sony was hoping for? Let’s find out!

3. Neighbors, of all movies, ended up being worthy competition
Neighbors was released the second week after ASM opened and, amazingly enough, it actually dethroned The Amazing Spider Man 2 after its second week. I guess the teens-twentysomething’s who might’ve been interested in both got their fix after the first weekend so, once Neighbors came out, they abandoned the movie in droves and went to see Neighbors instead. Granted, Neighbors did not make nearly as much as ASM 2 altogether but, still, the fact that it actually dethroned it at the top spot at the box office in it’s 2nd week does say something!
2. The movie drove away many of the people who disliked The Amazing Spider-Man
Considering the first Amazing Spider-Man was already a bit divisive, many people who hated the first Webb film probably didn’t want to see a sequel. As a result, they stayed away and the movie ended up making less as a result. In addition, it also probably drove away many of the fans who didn’t like the franchise in the first place because they wanted Spidey to be with the MCU, as they decided it was another movie they weren’t going to see.
1. Franchise Fatigue
Probably the biggest reason the movie didn’t meet expectations is that there were just too many Spider-Man films and people wanted a break from the character. After all, The Amazing Spider-Man came out only 5 years after Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came out just 2 years after The Amazing Spider-Man 1. With all those movies coming so close together, people probably just got tired of the whole thing and it caused more people to stay away.
Weirdly enough, though, there is a lot of hype for the next Spider-Man reboot, though that definitely has to do with the fact that it is connected with the MCU. Otherwise, Sony’s first attempt at rebooting Spider-Man just didn’t work out and we’ll have to hope this new reboot works out for the best!

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daffystardust
Editor
6 years ago

We went from 2 mostly good Spider-Man movies to 3 mostly bad movies starring the same character. Once people realized the Garfield reboot wasn’t going to be an upgrade, the follow up was destined to bring in less money. The fact that it was the worst Spider-Man movie yet couldn’t have helped.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

I sort of liked Amazing Spider-man, but it was one of those deals where I put an asterisk by it with the understanding that my opinion would be moved up or down based on the follow-up. The first movie left a lot hanging. If the sequel followed up on it well, that would increase my appreciation of the first movie. Instead, Amazing Spider-man 2 was the second coming of Batman and Robin. It wasn’t just the worst Spider-man movie, it was one of the worst superhero movies of all times. Shockingly bad (Elector pun intended.) I’m holding out hopes that… Read more »

jestak2
Editor
6 years ago

I haven’t seen Amazing Spider-man 2 yet, so I will take lebeau and Daffy’s word about the overall quality of the film. I think that that, as well as the factors Kevin lists, are doubtless big reasons for its failure. I’d suggest that one other factor might be that it ends on a major downer of a plot twist; I presume that three years after the release it’s not a big spoiler to say that Gwen Stacy dies in this one. Yes, killing a major character did not stop The Dark Knight from being a huge hit, but 1) That… Read more »

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago

The Amazing Spider-Man films were terrible. I speak as possibly the biggest Spider-Man fan you may ever meet (if we ever meet). Though the first Spidey series wasn’t perfect as far as characterization, the tone was right (in the first 2 films), and were greatly enjoyed by fans and critics alike. The bad blood began with questionable choices for the third Raimi Spider-Film, but ti was still within that mostly accepted world from the first two. With the rebooting, they changed characterizations that were long established in both the comic books and the previous films. Peter Parker was a rebellious… Read more »

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago

I liked the first one well enough, and I’ve never viewed the second, so I’m only half-informed I guess.

chuck
chuck
6 years ago

Personally I really disliked (hated) ASM1. The whole opening feels pointless because everyone knows Uncle Ben is going to die (and having Martin Sheen play the character only reinforced that fact from the beginning) The only scenes that shined in ASM1 were the ones where Dennis Leary was present (except for the man of many mask line, god that was aweful) ASM2 was slightly more enjoyable to me. However it did feel like it dragged on with the over abundance of sub plots, the classic mistake of having too many villains, and the less said about the sinister six set… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  chuck

Spider-Man (2002) http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/559317/spider-man-2002?page=1 Post by The Sea Lizuka on 2 hours ago 3 hours ago andrew8798 said: For ASM 2 The Stuff not helping Harry doesn’t help either Oh, man, ASM2 is probably my pick for the worst one of these. At least 3’s shorter, doesn’t pointlessly kill off the love interest and then immediately waive it off, doesn’t have its final boss look like he’s just done a bunch of meth, and doesn’t have a part where they stop the movie dead to make you wonder, “How the hell did he get that good an Internet connection in the… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

16 Marvel Movies That Didn’t Live Up To the Hype http://screenrant.com/marvel-movies-failed-live-up-hype/ AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise ended on something of a sour note, when a planned fourth installment in the series was cancelled following a lengthy row between the director and Sony Pictures. Sony wanted a new Spider-Man movie fast, while Raimi, frustrated with studio meddling on Spider-Man 3, wanted to make a better movie this time around. Ultimately, the decision was made to reboot the entire franchise, with Sony troublingly referencing Batman Begins as an inspiration for this new, gritty reboot. Nevertheless, fans were excited to see a… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

SPIDER-MAN: WHEN IS SUCCESS A FAILURE? https://www.soisitanygood.com/spider-man-when-is-success-a-failure/ An Entangled Web It wasn’t until the third movie that Spider-Man began the fall from grace. Plagued by overcrowding, poor characterization and a convoluted story, the film fell short. With three villains, many short cuts and sacrifices were made preventing further exploration of key elements. It is understandable where Raimi was trying to go with Sandman, he too is a compelling villain much like Octavius. Ultimately this fell short, in no small part thanks to corporate interference from Sony trying to cash in on big names like Venom and Green Goblin cheaply. The… Read more »

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